BRAZIL: The state government of Bahia has approved the call of tenders for the construction of a three-line light rail network in Salvador totalling 36 km at an estimated cost of R$3·6bn.
The first 16·6 km line would link Calçada in the centre of the conurbation with Ilha de São João in the north, serving 17 stations. The project cost is estimated at R$1·5bn.
A 9·2 km line would follow, linking Paripe on the first line to Águas Claras terminus of metro Line 1, serving eight stops. The budget for this route is R$1·2bn.
The third route would be 10·5 km long, running from Águas Claras to Piatã, with interchange to metro Line 2 to be provided at Bairro da Paz. The estimated investment is R$878m.
Trams replace rail and monorail
The first light rail line would follow the alignment of the aborted Orange Line monorail between Calçada and São João.
A two-line monorail network in Salvador had been under construction since February 2021 under a PPP concession awarded to the Skyrail Bahia consortium led by Chinese conglomerate BYD and Metrogreen.
The 19·2 km Orange Line would have linked Comércio and Calçada to São João, and a 4·1 km Green Line was also planned from São Joaquim on the Orange Line to Acesso Norte on metro lines 1 and 2. However, the government of Bahia terminated the monorail project in August due to escalating costs.
The Orange monorail had itself been planned to replace a suburban railway. Most of the planned alignment followed a 13·5 km main line railway formation. Suburban trains ceased in February 2021 when construction of the monorail began.
- A 3 km, one-station extension of Salvador metro Line 1 northeast from Campinas to Águas Claras has opened at a cost of R$518m.
